Pattern of Adult Surgical Admissions at the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri, Bayelsa State-a 2 Year Review

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: It is important to know the pattern of disease in any environment as this information is useful in planning intervention strategies. There is however a paucity of studies on the pattern of surgical diseases in Nigeria. We therefore aim to document the pattern of surgical diseases in adult surgical in- patients at the Niger delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri, Bayelsa State. METHODS: All adult surgical patients admitted into the wards at the Niger delta University teaching hospital between January, 2010 and December, 2012 were retrospectively studied. RESULTS: A total of597 adult surgical in- patients were studied. There were 438 (73.5%) males and 158 (26.5%) females. The mean age of patients was 42.9± 18.2 years. The commonest diagnostic category was trauma 31.7%. This was followed by gastrointestinal conditions 20.6%, external hernias 16.1%, malignancies 8.2%, genitourinary conditions 7.7%, leg ulcers 6.5%, soft tissue infections 3.0% and others 6.2%. We observed a mortality rate of 7.5% which was highest among patients with malignancies at 24.5%. CONCLUSION: Trauma was the commonest cause of surgical admission while the percentage of deaths was highest in patients with malignancies